...an award-nominated Irish blog on Irish history and Irish politics-from today and yesterday:all 32 Counties !Updated a number of times each week . (Mirror site here)

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"1169 And Counting is a wealth of information on our Republican past and present , and demonstrates how the Irish political landscape , like that of any nation, will never be a black and white issue..."

IRISH BLOG AWARDS 2017 - ooops! It seems that our entry application was "not completed in time to be considered.." (?) and, as such, we are not now in the running. But we wish all the best to the successful entrants and to the organisers, and we hope all goes well for them on the day!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

FUND-RAISING GIG FOR IRISH REPUBLICAN FLUTE BAND...

....on Saturday 19th December 2009 , a ballad session will be held in 'The Phibsboro House Pub (Davys)'(36 Phibsboro Road , Dublin 7 ; 'phone 01-8303372)to further the establishment of the new 'Tom Maguire / Dáithí Ó Conaill Irish Republican Flute Band', who are in the process of acquiring newer instruments and uniforms.The main session will be courtesy of 'Chris' , and I'm told that various members of the Flute Band will be on stage themselves during the course of the night. A raffle will be held , doors open at 9pm and admission per person is only €5.If you are in a position to attend , please do so as funds are urgently needed to ensure that this new(ish!) Flute Band look and sound as best they can , as they will shortly be seen in O'Connell Street in Dublin , and at other Republican events elsewhere.Thanks!Sharon.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY.......Twenty-six men were convicted on the word of Harry Kirkpatrick. On their appeal against those convictions could well rest the future of the 'Anglo-Irish Agreement' ('The Hillsborough Treaty'). Based on a full transcript of the Kirkpatrick trials , the story of how these convictions were obtained shows why the 'Supergrass System' is a pale shadow of justice. By Derek Dunne. From 'MAGILL' magazine, February 1986.

Another man from Derry has also been arrested ; he had been arrested in 1984 in Derry and had been in RUC custody but was not charged on Kirkpatrick's word at that time. Now that man and Liz Le Guria both face 'trials' based on the informer's 'evidence' .

Since 1982, almost four hundred men and women have been arrested , charged and remanded in custody on the 'word' of informers , and have been held for an aggregate of one thousand years before coming to 'trial' . It can take up to two years to have an appeal heard , and some of the victims in the Kirkpatrick case will have served six years by then - twelve years in real terms. Such is British 'justice' , as practised here in Ireland. [END of 'The Trouble With Harry'.](NEXT : 'Presidential Address of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh to the 85th Ard Fheis of Sinn Fein , October 1989'.)

WHERE DO THE DRUGS GO ? The official line is that the evidence is finally taken under guard to a certain multinational chemical-processing company that is under contract to the State Department of Justice to dispose of the substances and the packaging....... From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1988. By Marguerite Barry.

Everyone has heard tall tales about a big incinerator in the midlands , proud display cases in the 'National (sic) Drug Unit' and bits going 'missing' along the way ; officially , only small 'street deals' are taken into garda stations , and only 24-hour stations , at that. Bigger hauls require the expertise of the Garda Technical Bureau , which is called in to photograph the scene and examine other evidence left behind.

Then the drugs haul is taken to the garda forensic-science laboratories at the Phoenix Park headquarters in Dublin , where substances are examined to confirm quality and quantity and analysed for fingerprints , hairs and fibres. These should be the first non-garda hands to come into contact with the contraband since they were confiscated.

While the file is being prepared about the investigation and arrests (if there are any) for the State DPP, the evidence is stored at Phoenix Park HQ. Once the file is complete , a request can be made to the DPP for permission to dispose of part of the seized amount ; the rest of it is kept - usually about 20 kilos of cannabis or 1 kilo of cocaine , heroin or other controlled substances . Ten per cent of the excess is also kept as a reference to the size of the seizure and the rest of it can be destroyed. The State DPP may, on the other hand, refuse permission if the case requires all the evidence to be kept, rather than just sample amounts.......(MORE LATER).

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST HEROIN IN DUBLIN.......The drugs crisis is one of the major problems facing young people in Dublin today. In large areas of the city it has now reached massive proportions , while in the inner city there is estimated to be a higher percentage of drug addicts and drug abusers than in Harlem in New York . But it has been only recently - 5 years after this epidemic began in earnest - that any notice has been paid to the problem. And even now the Free State government has failed to confront the crisis in a meaningful way . Tony Barry of Na Fianna Eireann has been looking at the issues for 'IRIS' magazine.From 'IRIS' magazine, December 1984.

Tony Barry : " Were drug pushers who were living in the flats barred from the area , as happened in some other places ? "

Noel Sillery : " Nobody was really barred from the flats. The people that were pushing drugs were ostracised - we let them know in no uncertain terms that we didn't want them here , and it was very effective.

We had one drug pusher , Jamie Gantley, who actually burnt his flat in order to get rehoused out of the area. We had a number of pushers moving out . So that action was effective for us. There was also the community pressure ; if something came up at a meeting about either drug pushers or addicts being seen to go to one particular flat , it would be discussed and it could be decided that we'd march on that person's flat to see what was happening there . But at the same time , everyone had the right at those meetings to defend themselves. "

(PLEASE NOTE - this will be our last '3-in-1' post for 2009 : we will be posting other material over the Christmas period , but our usual '3-in-1' posts will not be returning until early in the New Year.)(MORE LATER).

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

FUND-RAISING GIG FOR IRISH REPUBLICAN FLUTE BAND...

....on Saturday 19th December 2009 , a ballad session will be held in 'The Phibsboro House Pub (Davys)'(36 Phibsboro Road , Dublin 7 ; 'phone 01-8303372)to further the establishment of the new 'Tom Maguire / Dáithí Ó Conaill Irish Republican Flute Band', who are in the process of acquiring newer instruments and uniforms.The main session will be courtesy of 'Chris' , and I'm told that various members of the Flute Band will be on stage themselves during the course of the night. A raffle will be held , doors open at 9pm and admission per person is only €5.If you are in a position to attend , please do so as funds are urgently needed to ensure that this new(ish!) Flute Band look and sound as best they can , as they will shortly be seen in O'Connell Street in Dublin , and at other Republican events elsewhere.Thanks!Sharon.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

MUTINY ? Not a chance , unfortunately....

State cops and their representatives are not happy campers : they are being treated by the wealthy political elite in Leinster House in much the same manner as the rest of us ie being screwed financially to pay for their mistakes and incompetence. And they don't like it , and are now throwing shapes about doing something about it.......but they'll back down. Unfortunately. The politicians have called their bluff, and the State cops and their reps will now try to put a brave face on their verbal shaping whilst , at the same time , tucking their tail firmly back between their legs.We have no time for, or inclination to support, the cops , as they are the 'Front Line' defence for this corrupt wee Statelet and its political rulers , and are themselves , for the most part (in our opinion), as corrupt as their bosses, who they are now temporarily at odds with. But serious political change is needed , and if the cops supply the spark that helps to introduce that change , then we would welcome such a development. But , in this morally corrupt and bankrupt kip of a Statelet , such a change , from that particular direction , will not happen. However , having said that ,it's good to see those loyal State servants get such a wake-up call from those they previously considered to be their 'best friends' . From little acorns etc....Sharon.